Inside Unmanned Systems

APR-MAY 2018

Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.

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54 April/May 2018 unmanned systems
inside
AIR TRAINING
W
hen it comes to unmanned aircraft
systems (UAS) for mapping and spe-
cifically to the power and potential
of LiDAR sensors, there's a lot of enthusiasm…but
limited education.
It's one reason ASPRS sponsored the Unmanned
Airborne LiDAR for Precision Mapping workshop
led by distinguished Mohamed Mostafa, chair of the
ASPRS Precision Mapping by UAS Committee and
director of the Microdrones mdSolutions Team.
Mostafa explained, "It's important to ASPRS that
we educate newcomers—from drone pilots to geo-
spatial students—to the UAV space, particularly
those who may not have survey backgrounds. By
sharing knowledge about GNSS, photogrammetry,
LiDAR, inertial navigation and geodesy, we can help
them ask the right questions, invest in the most ap-
propriate tools and derive the best results."
Held after the ILMF/ASPRS Annual Conference
in Denver, Colorado, in February, the workshop pro-
vided a comprehensive overview of mapping con-
cepts, tools, techniques and applications.
For many of the 30+ attendees, it was an eye-
opening experience and set the stage for greater
interest and adoption.
AIR-TO-GROUND BASICS
The development and production of survey and en-
gineering quality maps is not an easy conversation
in today's high-tech world.
That's one reason Mostafa provided a compre-
hensive look at the key fundamentals necessary to
deliver a final mapping product (e.g., DEM, DTM,
TIN). He outlined current tools and techniques
(e.g., airborne photogrammetry, satellite imagery
and airborne LiDAR) to gather the data and pro-
cess accurate results and further delved into the
key georeferencing methods with an introduction
to GNSS basics (e.g., radio frequencies, ranging
concepts, positioning modes, error sources).
Because the accuracy of the data is directly related
to the positional accuracy of the drone as well as the
LiDAR sensor, he went on to describe the value of an
inertial measurement unit (IMU) as well as a GNSS-
aided inertial navigation system (INS) to deliver
GNSS-aided inertial navigation solutions—which
packaged as a whole delivers one positional correc-
tion to the entire dataset during post-processing.
He also outlined today's readily available refer-
ence stations, earth observation networks, online
positioning user services (OPUS), Canadian Spatial
Photo courtesy of Microdrones.
ASPRS Hosts Educational Mapping & Georeferencing Workshop. by Vicki Speed
a Geo-
Odyssey
of UAS LiDAR Mapping
The ASPRS seminar addressed drone
mapping fundamentals including
LiDAR sensors and georeferencing.
asprs
review